SET TO EXPLODE

IMPACT OF MINES, BOOBY TRAPS AND

EXPLOSIVE REMNANTS OF WAR ON
CIVILIANS IN NORTHERN SYRIA

April 2017
1  INTRODUCTION 04 CREDITS
© 2017 Médecins Sans Frontières

Cover image © Jamal Bali / MSF

2  EXPLOSIVE WEAPONS IN URBAN AREAS 08 Mortar remnants of war amid the rubble,
Kobane, January 23, 2017.

Art Direction & Design: Atomodesign.nl

3 THE HUMAN COST IN AYN AL ARAB/KOBANE, TAL ABYAD, MANBIJ 12 Médecins Sans Frontières
Plantage Middenlaan 14,
1018 DD Amsterdam
Tel: + 31 (20) 520 87 00

4  IMPROVISED CLEARERS OF EXPLOSIVES 22 Fax: +31 (20) 620 51 70

W: www.msf.org

www.facebook.com/msf.english

5  LIVING WITH THE MINES 26 https://twitter.com/MSF

6  CONCLUSION 32

Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria 3
INTRODUCTION

1
4 Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria
The Syrian war enters its seventh year
and fighting intensifies for control over
the Raqqa city - the Islamic State group’s
self proclaimed capital. Displaced
households assisted by Médecins
Sans Frontières (MSF) recount the fear
of mines, booby-traps and explosive
remnants of war while they flee from
active frontlines or return to their homes.
On 25 November 2016, the MSF-supported Kobane hospital
received eight people with injuries caused by blasts from
explosive devices. All eight were from families displaced from
their homes in the northern Raqqa countryside and in the
area northeast of Al Bab. This was unfortunately nothing new
to the hospital staff. Just over a year ago, as the population
returned to their homes in Ayn Al Arab/Kobane1 district,
they found their houses, streets and fields planted with mines
and booby traps2 and littered with explosive remnants of war.
Some months later, in the summer of 2016, a similar situation
occurred in the Manbij area, from where hospital staff
received, over the course of just four weeks, more than 190
people injured by blasts from explosive devices.
MSF has witnessed the impact of mines, booby traps and
explosive remnants of war on the civilian population through
its medical activities in northern Syria. Not only the extensive
use of explosive weapons during the hostilities, including
bombs dropped from aircraft, but the widespread planting
of mines, and booby traps including in private homes, fields
and civilian infrastructure are having a devastating effect on
civilians returning to their homes. Given the limited local
capacity to clear these areas and make them safe again, it will
also affect their lives and livelihoods in the long term. The
situation in Ayn Al Arab/Kobane and Manbij is strikingly
Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria 5
similar to that reported in Palmyra in Syria, Ramadi in Iraq
and Sirte in Libya – all scenes of battles against the Islamic
State group (IS).
MSF runs six medical facilities across northern Syria and
supports more than 150 hospitals and health centres across
the country. In northern Syria, MSF teams treat consequences
of explosive devices, but remain powerless to address the
cause of these injuries and deaths. The personal accounts
below are just a few examples of the impact of the thousands
of mines, booby traps and unexploded ordnance left behind
even after the fighting has moved elsewhere.
Currently battles against IS are being fought in multiple
areas, such as Raqqa city, and environments contaminated
by mines, booby-traps and other explosive devices will
continue to have devastating effects – both in terms of their
direct deathly impact on the people living in these areas as
well on the ability to provide humanitarian assistance to
them. Increased support is urgently needed to ensure prompt
humanitarian clearance of mines, booby traps and explosive
remnants of war3 in areas where local people are returning to
their homes, and to build up the local capacity to undertake
clearance activities in the long term. These activities should
be an absolute priority in the aftermath of military operations,
in order to allow the safe return of displaced civilians and
unhindered humanitarian access.
1 District and city in northern Syria in Aleppo governorate, officially Ayn Al
Arab (in Arabic) but also known by its Kurdish name Kobane.
2 For the purposes of this report, “mine” and “booby-trap” refer to the legal
definitions included in Art 2.1 and 2.2 of the protocol 2 on prohibitions or
restrictions on the use of mines, booby traps and other devices. Geneva,
10 October 1980. “1. “Mine” means any munition placed under, on or
near the ground or other surface area and designed to be detonated or
exploded by the presence, proximity or contact of a person or vehicle,
and “remotely delivered mine” means any mine so defined delivered
by artillery, rocket, mortar or similar means or dropped from an aircraft.
2. “Booby trap” means any device or material which is designed,
constructed or adapted to kill or injure and which functions unexpectedly
when a person disturbs or approaches an apparently harmless object or
performs an apparently safe act.”
This report is based on what MSF teams have witnessed in
the northeast of Aleppo governorate and in the north of
Raqqa governorate, with medical data collected in MSF-
supported health facilities or shared by other hospitals in
the area. Interviews were conducted between October 2016 Some victims made it
and February 2017 with patients, medical staff and other
people from these areas whose lives have been affected by
to a medical facility and
explosive devices as well as local authorities and international survived, but many did
organisations working on mine clearance. The geographical not. It was devastating to
coverage of the research was limited to areas in the two
governorates that were accessible to MSF teams and does not
witness that for people
claim to be exhaustive. who already lost so much,
that was still more to lose.

3 Humanitarian clearance differs from military clearance as “it

aims to clear land so that civilians can return to their homes
and their everyday routines without the threat of landmines and
explosive remnants of war (ERW), which include unexploded
ordnance and abandoned explosive ordnance. This means that
all the mines and ERW affecting the places where ordinary
people live must be cleared, and their safety in areas that have
been cleared must be guaranteed. Mines are cleared and the
areas are thoroughly verified so that they can say without a
doubt that the land is now safe, and people can use it without
worrying about the weapons. The aim of humanitarian demining
is to restore peace and security at the community level” (http://
www.mineaction.org/issues/clearance).

6 Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria
 © Jamal Bali / MSF

Patients coming out of the

MSF supported health post
in the town of Abu Qalqal,
south east of Manbij.

Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria 7
EXPLOSIVE WEAPONS
IN URBAN AREAS AND
INDISCRIMINATE USE OF
MINES, BOOBY TRAPS AND
OTHER EXPLOSIVE DEVICES

2
8 Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria
The incidents documented by MSF
in this report are mainly linked to IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE
detonations of unexploded ordnance DEVICES AND PROJECTILES
and of victim-operated improvised
explosive devices,4 meaning that they IED hidden in
teddy bear
are designed to be detonated by the
presence, proximity or contact of a
person or vehicle.
Anti-personnel
mine
According to an explosive ordnance disposal expert who
has worked in northern Syria,5 victim-operated explosive
devices have not only been used defensively, to prevent
Anti tank
or hinder enemy advances, but also to deliberately target
civilians returning to their homes after the end of hostilities.
Improvised explosive devices have been found planted
around military sites or to protect firing positions. Improvised Improvised
explosive devices have also been found planted in fields, mortar
streets and houses; placed in doorways or under objects likely
to attract civilians, such as teddy bears, dolls, fridges and
televisions. The impact of this tactic has been devastating.
Improvised
People returning to their homes have been killed or injured rocket
as they stepped through their front door, opened the fridge
or bent down to pick up a toy from the floor. The improvised
explosives appear to have been planted with the aim of
inflicting damage indiscriminately on returning civilians.
Hell Cannon

4 Victim-operated improvised explosive devices

contain a “type of switch that is activated by the Fragmentation
actions of an unsuspecting individual, these devices Mine
rely on the target for the device carrying out
some form of action that will cause the device to
function” (glossary of the International Mine Action
Standards, mineactionstandards.org)
70 cm
5 Interviewed by MSF on 10 December 2016

Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria 9
© Jamal Bali / MSF

THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK

The use of explosive weapons in populated areas is
not specifically regulated by international humanitarian
law, but should comply with rules on the conduct of
hostilities, including a prohibition against indiscriminate
and disproportionate attacks, as well as a prohibition
against targeting civilians or civilian objects. According to
international humanitarian law, parties to the conflict must
also respect the obligation to take all feasible precautions
to spare civilian population and civilian objects. The
Protocol on Explosive Remnants of War 6 additionally
places an obligation to “mark and clear, remove or destroy
explosive remnants of war” (Article 3.3) after the end of
active hostilities. While Syria is not a party to the protocol,
a number of states militarily involved in the Syrian conflict
such as the United States and the Russian Federation,
and Syria’s immediate neighbours – Iraq, Jordan and
Turkey – are.
The use of bombs is allowed in times of war albeit
with some of the limitations outlined above, the use of
mines, booby traps and other victim-operated devices
is severely limited and often-times outright forbidden
under international humanitarian law. The principles of
distinction between civilians and combatants, as well
as the principle of proportionality of an attack to its
objective, enshrined in the Geneva Conventions, impose
some limits on the use of victim-operated explosive
devices.7 They stipulate that particular care must be
taken to minimise the indiscriminate effects of mines and
minimize any use of explosive devices targeting civilians.
Linking booby traps with objects likely to attract civilians,
for example, is prohibited. The customary nature of these
rules makes them binding, even for states that have not
ratified the specific legal instruments and for non-state
armed groups.
The Mines Ban Treaty8 completely prohibits the use of
explosive devices “designated to be exploded by the
presence, proximity or contact of a person and that will
incapacitate, injure or kill one or more persons” (Article
2.1). The treaty also includes an obligation for “Each
State Party in a position to do so” to “provide assistance
for mine clearance and related activities” (Article 6.4).
Syria is not among the 162 states that are party to the
treaty, although Iraq, Jordan and Turkey are.

6 P
 rotocol on Explosive Remnants of War (Protocol V to the 1980 CCW
Convention), 28 November 2003.
7 B
 ouchet-Saulnier F., The practical guide to humanitarian law, Rowman &
Littlefield, 2007
8 C
 onvention on the prohibition of the use, stockpiling, production and
transfer of anti-personnel mines and on their destruction, 1997

10 Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria
 A home destroyed by the conflict,
Kobane, January 25, 2017.

Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria 11
THE HUMAN COST:
ACCOUNTS FROM ALEPPO
AND RAQQA GOVERNORATES

3
AYN AL ARAB/KOBANE
AND TAL ABYAD
The districts of Ayn Al Arab/Kobane
and Tal Abyad were the scene of battles
between IS and the People’s Protection
Units (YPG) between August 2014
and the summer of 2015.
The majority of the population of Ayn Al Arab/Kobane
district – more than 150,000 people – sought refuge in
Turkey; others fled to other parts of Syria and to Iraq. When
IS forces retreated at the end of January 2015, residents started
returning to the area. By the end of February 2015, IS forces
were 30-50 km from Ayn Al Arab/Kobane town.9 In the two
months after fighting in Ayn Al Arab/Kobane ended, Turkish
authorities reported that some 37,000 people had returned
to Syria through the Mürșitpınar/Kobane border crossing.10
By June 2015, this number had reached 62,500, but figures
reported by local authorities were higher given that people
were also crossing back into Syria through unofficial routes.
On their return, the population of Ayn Al Arab/Kobane found
that their towns, villages and agricultural land were littered with
huge numbers of unexploded ordnances, mines and booby traps.
Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria 13
Serbest, a mathematics teacher from Jomali, was among the
returnees. “When the fighting reached our area in 2014, we
escaped to Turkey for seven months. When we came back to
our village at the beginning of 2015, the tractor was destroyed
and explosive devices had destroyed part of our house. We
were hosting some displaced people, and one time we found
their children playing with an object that we discovered was an
explosive device. We realised that there were mines and other
explosive remnants of war everywhere in our village. Luckily, no
one in our village was injured or killed – up until yesterday.” 11
The extensive use of explosive weapons in urban areas,
including 700 airstrikes by coalition forces, left almost
80 percent of Ayn Al Arab/Kobane destroyed and densely
contaminated by unexploded ordnances. An international
NGO estimated that there were on average ten pieces of
munition per square metre.12 Villages and surrounding
fields, as well as urban areas, had also been littered with large
numbers of mines and booby traps.
An MSF staff member who was in Ayn Al Arab/Kobane town
some weeks after the end of hostilities describes what she
saw: “The streets were littered with explosives – people had to
watch every step they took. When spring started, more and more
families started to return, bringing life back into the streets of
Kobane. However, as more families returned to rebuild their
lives, reports of incidents involving explosives became a daily
occurrence. Some victims made it to a medical facility and
survived, but many did not. It was devastating to witness that for
people who had already lost so much, there was still more to lose.”
9 U NOCHA, Humanitarian Bulletin Syria: Issue 2, 2 June 2015
10 U NOCHA, Humanitarian Bulletin: Syria operations from Turkey,
Issue 14, 18 Feb – 30 March 2015
11 Interviewed by MSF on 24 October 2016
12 Handicap International, Kobani: A city of rubble and unexploded
devices, Factsheet, May 2015 [www.handicap-international.org/
wp-content/uploads/2016/09/DOC3_ENG.pdf ]
As the frontlines of the fighting moved east towards Tal
Abyad, as well as southwards, they triggered more temporary
displacements, with people leaving their homes until
hostilities had ceased. The scenes they described on their
return were similar to those in Ayn Al Arab/Kobane.
Shiyar B, who runs a diesel station in Jirn, west of Tal Abyad,
describes how two of his relatives were killed by detonating
mines: “My cousin Ahmed B fled to Iraq during the clashes. In
July 2015, he came back alone to check on the situation before
allowing his family to join him. When he tried to open the door
of his house, the whole house exploded. He died and his family
has still not returned. He wasn’t the first one: in June 2015,
Izaddin B was riding his motorcycle on the road to his home,
southwest of the village, when he hit a mine which killed him.” 13
In the first weeks after clashes ended in Ayn Al Arab/Kobane,
MSF collected the details of 67 people killed or injured
by blasts from explosive devices in 45 separate incidents
from the local military hospital, where most of the patients
were treated. The data below provides a snapshot of these
45 incidents, all of which occurred in the period between
27 January and 7 April 2015. However, as not all incidents
are reported or systematically registered, these numbers are
unlikely to reflect the true scale of incidents.
Incidents and victims of blasts from explosive devices
in Ayn Al Arab/Kobane area (2015)
14
incidents
victims
12

An explosive ordnance disposal expert14 who worked in the

10
area in 2015 told MSF that it was clear that only a few of
number of victims/incidents

the improvised explosive devices were placed for reasons of 8

defence; according to him most were placed to cause maximum
damage to civilians returning to their homes. Large numbers of 6

explosive devices were placed in fields, in houses, behind closed

4
doors, in toys and in other objects likely to attract civilians.
2
An assessment carried out by an international NGO in April
2015 concluded that booby traps were anti-personnel by 0

nature because they had “either a steel casing that would 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

epidemiological week
naturally create shrapnel on exploding, or additional
fragmentation”.15 In other words, the devices were specifically
designed to incapacitate, injure or kill people. From the
western part of Kobane city alone, international NGOs and
local security forces stated they removed six tons of the
main explosive charges from improvised explosive devices.
According to the explosive ordnance disposal expert, apart
from the unexploded ordnance, almost all the improvised
explosive devices were victim-operated, with very few 13 Interviewed by MSF on 16 November 2016
triggered by remote control or timer. 14 “Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) is the detection, identification,
evaluation, render safe, recovery and disposal of Explosive Ordnance”,
International Mine Action Standards Glossary
15 H
 andicap International, Kobani: A city of rubble and unexploded devices,
Factsheet, May 2015 [www.handicap-international.org/wp-content/
uploads/2016/09/DOC3_ENG.pdf ]

14 Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria
In the 45 incidents shown in the graph on the left, 47 people
died and 19 were injured. Medical staff in the hospital
reported that 80% of the victims were civilians. The majority
(85%) of the victims were male. Over half (53%) of the
victims were under or of the age of 30; four were children
under 15.
The map above shows the location of the incidents, where it was
possible to identify them. While incomplete information prevents
us drawing conclusions about which areas were most affected, it
still gives an indication of the impact of explosive devices on the
region as a whole during the first weeks after people returned to
their homes in the Ayn Al Arab/Kobane region.

Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria 15
A house with bullet ridden walls,
Kobane January 25, 2017.

When he tried to open

the door of his house the
whole house exploded.
He died and his family
hasn’t retuned yet.

16 Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria
 © Jamal Bali / MSF
© xxxxx

Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria 17
MANBIJ NGOs visiting the city in the immediate aftermath of the
battle, all public or private spaces were potentially mined,
In late May 2016, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)
including streets, schools and hospitals. In people’s houses,
began an offensive on Manbij, a city in the north of Aleppo
any everyday object – a sofa, a television, a door – could be
governorate which had been under IS control since January
a deadly trap.17
2014. Clashes took place first in rural areas around the city,
and then progressively in Manbij itself. In mid-August 2016, With very limited healthcare services available in Manbij
the SDF announced that they were in full control of the city. during the month of August, a significant number of the
casualties were referred to the MSF-supported Arin hospital18
As a result of the fighting, large numbers of people left their
in Ayn Al Arab/Kobane. Those in need of surgery were then
homes in both rural and urban areas. This displacement
referred with MSF financial support to Amal hospital
tended to be relatively temporary, with civilians fleeing as the
(a private facility in Ayn Al Arab/Kobane) or to Qamishli
frontline approached, and returning to their houses as soon as
(seven hours’ drive from Manbij).
the situation stabilised.
An MSF doctor describes how the team in Arin hospital were
A large number of displaced people returned to their homes
confronted with large numbers of wounded:
in Manbij in the first three weeks of August, immediately
before and after the end of the offensive. The exact number “In August 2016, enormous numbers of war-wounded
of returns remains difficult to verify. According to Needs civilians started arriving in Kobane to access one of the few
and Population Monitoring, from 13 August to 7 September, functioning health facilities in northern Syria. It was very
13,220 displaced people returned to the city, with a total challenging to cope with this mammoth load of patients, many
population of 86,448 in the city in August 2016. of them critically injured. As a medic trained to deal with
mass casualties, I must say the scenario was poles apart from
On their return, people found the city had been extensively
what we were trained for. It was even more complicated when
planted with mines, booby traps and other explosive devices.
truckloads of patients injured by mine blasts or improvised
A doctor who remained in Manbij throughout the fighting
explosive devices started arriving at the hospital. To avoid the
told MSF, “During the battle, IS fighters were occupying houses
armed conflict, civilians took the road they considered safe to
and forcing the families out. They were then planting booby
travel on, but instead ended up in the minefields.”
traps when they had to retreat to another house.” 16 According
to the local humanitarian affairs office, as well as international During the last phase of the SDF’s offensive on Manbij, and
in the weeks immediately after they took control of the city,
the only functioning public health facility in the whole area
was a health post in Abu Qalqal, in eastern rural Manbij. Any
patient in need of hospital care had to be referred to Ayn Al
Arab/Kobane.
16 Whatsapp interview by MSF on 8 January 2017
17 Interviewed by MSF on 20 November 2016
18 M
 SF was supporting Arin hospital with equipment,
medical supplies, incentives for staff and technical
support provided by MSF staff present in Ayn Al
Arab/Kobane. The facility was closed after the
opening of Kobane hospital in September 2016
where MSF provides the same level of support.

18 Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria
The data below reflects information on the number of patients
with injuries related to blasts from explosive devices received
in the 13 weeks from 16 June to 16 September 2016 in Arin
hospital and Amal hospital. These figures do not show the
full reality, as only a portion of Manbij’s war-wounded were
received in Ayn Al Arab/Kobane, due both to the distance
involved and the existence of alternative health facilities. The
medical data does not differentiate between injuries related to
unexploded ordnance and injuries related to mines or booby
traps. Nevertheless, most witnesses describe a significantly
higher number of mines and booby traps, probably related to
the relatively short duration of fighting in the city.
Medical data shows a dramatic increase in the number of
injuries related to blasts from explosive devices in the last
three weeks of the offensive, reaching a peak in the first week
after the SDF announced their full control of the city when,
very rapidly, a large proportion of displaced people returned
to the city from the surrounding countryside.
Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria 19
An MSF nurse in Ayn Al Arab/Kobane describes what
happened to one family who fled Manbij during the fighting:
“Father, mother, two daughters and two sons. Exhaustion and
grief mark their faces. Openly, they share with us what they
have been through in recent days. The family lost their three-
year-old daughter while they were escaping from Manbij. She
was shredded by one of the mines that IS had scattered around
the entire city. The oldest daughter was injured and has burns
and shrapnel wounds all over her body. Due to the severity
of her injuries, the parents had no choice but to go directly to
Kobane so she could receive medical care. There was no time
to bury or mourn for the little daughter, so she was left behind.
Only those surviving counted.”
After the peak of cases in mid-August, the number of
people with injuries caused by explosive devices dropped
significantly. According to local authorities, most people
returned to the city in August, and became progressively more
aware of the risks posed by unexploded ordnance, mines and
other improvised explosive devices. A manager of Kobane
hospital said: “Currently we are seeing fewer cases from Manbij,
because there are hospitals in the city where people go, and they
no longer have to come to Kobane. The population is also more
careful and the SDF have cleared the roads. But there are still a
lot of mines in the fields.” 19
There are currently no fully-functioning public hospitals in
Manbij. The National Hospital of Manbij – the city’s main
public health facility – is severely damaged and provides only
very limited health services. However, five private hospitals
have now reopened, allowing some of the injured to receive
healthcare in Manbij itself. The closest towns where people
can access free hospital treatment are Jarablus, Azaz and Ayn
Al Arab/Kobane.
19 Interviewed by MSF on 25 October 2016
 Mortar remnants of war
amid the rubble, Kobane,
January 23, 2017.

We can’t go to some fields,

and villagers are afraid to
send their children to the
village school.

20 Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria
 Five months after the end of the battle to control Manbij,

© Jamal Bali / MSF

some clearance of explosive devices has been carried out in
public areas, such as the main streets and schools, by military
forces and a unit of the local police, though they have only
limited training and equipment. But many areas have not
been cleared. A doctor in Manbij we interviewed says: “There
are still numerous streets that are not accessible because they
haven’t been cleared, and many families haven’t been able to
return to their houses yet because of the presence of explosive
devices”.

Incidents involving blasts from explosive devices continue to

be reported regularly, both in the city and in the surrounding
rural areas. Farmers are particularly at risk when they return
to their fields, while those who cannot reach their fields are
cut off from their main source of income, with an inevitable
impact on their livelihood.

Badr, a 27-year-old farmer who grows olives with his family in

Nashama, a village near Abu Qalqal, was brought to Kobane
hospital on 22 October 2016. His brother describes what
happened: “Badr went to the field to collect olives, but he saw
a mine on the ground and decided to go back. He then stepped
on another mine that he had not seen.” Badr survived the blast,
but both his legs had to be amputated.

Badr’s brother continues: “Before the incidents, we knew that

there were mines in some fields, but agriculture is our only
source of income. This was the first time we had been back to
our fields since the IS group withdrew from the village. The
area was a frontline during the battle and IS placed a lot of
mines before leaving. The SDF cleared the village, but not the
surrounding fields. Without access to our fields, we have no
source of income. In our extended family, six people have lost
their lives and one has lost a leg because of the mines.” 20

20 Interviewed by MSF on 24 October 2016

Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria 21
IMPROVISING TO
CLEAR EXPLOSIVES

4
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE
Since the start of its humanitarian
response plan for Ayn Al Arab/Kobane,
the humanitarian community prioritised
“the clearance of explosives during the
first phase of the response”21 In spite
of the security and access constraints,
humanitarian mine action agencies were
able to start training and clearance
activities in Ayn Al Arab/Kobane in
May 2015.
These initiatives were abruptly interrupted in late June 2015
when IS infiltrated the city, killing more than 200 civilians. Most told me that he knew how to clear mines, and was thinking about
humanitarian agencies evacuated the city, returning over the
following months. Due to access constraints, clearance activities
were only briefly resumed in October 2015. According to mine
action activity reports, the agencies engaged in clearance were
nevertheless able to remove more than 14 tons of explosive devices. around 30-40 improvised explosive devices. IS had even booby-
Since November 2015 programmes have been limited to educating trapped the devices. Ahmed lifted up an explosive device, and I saw
people in Kobane town about the risk of explosive devices.
In Manbij, too, the humanitarian community identified clearance
of explosive devices as a priority to allow the safe return of the
population and access for humanitarian assistance. Despite this,
the only concrete activities were carried out by local military
groups and police forces with limited training and equipment, and trying to clear the village of Jirn of mines and other improvised
humanitarian agencies were limited to providing risk education
in Manbij city. However, more recently an international donor has
hired a private company to train civilian mine clearance teams and
start decontamination activities in the Manbij area.
LOCAL INITIATIVES
To address the limited response by humanitarian agencies
specialised in clearance activities, local authorities and private
individuals have begun to clear areas, though with limited training
and equipment. According to local authorities, the local police
– known as Asayish – set up a unit of five volunteers to work in
Ayn Al Arab/Kobane town. The volunteers, who had only limited
experience, are now all dead from injuries sustained in blasts of
leftover explosive devices. Some individuals have also volunteered
to clear houses of mines, either for free or for payment.
Muhammad, from Ayn Al Arab/Kobane, who has no training
in mine clearance, tried to clear the village of Jirn, west of Tal
Abyad, with his friend Ahmed. He describes what happened: “I
had a poor friend called Ahmed, so poor that we used to call him
‘Ahmed faqeer 22’. He had a six-month-old son who had a hernia,
but he didn’t have the money to take him to the hospital. Ahmed
doing this job in Kobane to earn money. I advised him not to do it,
but he convinced me that it was necessary due to the situation after
the battle of Kobane. In the end he even convinced me to go with
him. We started clearing houses in the village of Jirn and defused
another one below, but it was too late. The explosion killed Ahmed
and injured me – my leg had to be amputated below the knee. It
was 24 July 2015.” 23
Ahmed was among six people (three civilians and three from the
military, according to local villagers) who lost their lives while
explosive devices.
In December 2016, Asayish announced the establishment of a
new unit in Ayn Al Arab/Kobane to clear mines flagged by the
local population.

21 OCHA, Humanitarian Bulletin: Syria operations from Turkey,

Issue 14, 18 Feb–30 March 2015
22 Faqir (‫)ريقف‬: poor in Arabic
23 Interviewed by MSF on 15 November 2016

Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria 23
 I can’t sleep because
I’m always worried
that one of my four
children will step on
one of the mines
around the house.

24 Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria
 An MSF nurse is checking
in on a patient injured
from a mine left, Kobani
Hospital, Kobane,
January 23, 2017.

© Jamal Bali / MSF

Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria 25
LIVING WITH THE MINES

5
Even in areas which IS left more than
a year ago, the threat of improvised
explosive devices and unexploded
ordnances remain a daily reality for the
local population. Incidents of people
being killed or injured continue to be
reported, even in locations believed to
be safe. Meanwhile, the fact that some
people still cannot return to their homes
or access their fields is having an impact
on their livelihoods.
The rural areas east of Tal Abyad are particularly affected.
They were the scene of fierce clashes between the YPG in
the summer of 2015. After the fighting ended, agricultural
land was left contaminated with landmines and unexploded
ordnance, and whole villages were booby-trapped. More than
a year later, the situation is little different from what people
found in 2015 when they first returned to their villages.
Jirn is one of many villages west of Tal Abyad where people
are still living alongside improvised explosive devices and
unexploded ordnances.. The latest incident in Jirn occurred
in January 2016, more than five months after the end of
offensive, when a blast in the centre of the village injured
three of Ahmed faqeer’s children, six months after their father
was killed while trying to clear improvised explosive devices.
Shyiar, a resident of Jirn, says: “There are still mines, booby
trapped houses and unexploded ordnance. We can’t go to some
fields, and villagers are afraid to send their children to the
village school.’’
Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria 27
Shyiar’s neighbour, Jasem M, lives with two mines just a few
metres from his doorstep. He says: “I can’t sleep because I’m
always worried that one of my four children, or a dog or a
sheep, will step on one of the mines around the house. When
an animal approaches the house, we all run away in case it
detonates a mine.”
According to the villagers, of the population of 500, at least
50 have been unable to return to their homes because of the
explosive devices, and remain displaced elsewhere in Syria
or in Turkey or Iraq. Jasem M says: “My father’s house was
destroyed by explosive devices, and now it’s too dangerous to
rebuild the house with so many mines in the ground.”
It is a similar scene in other villages in the area. Half of
the village of Sarzouri, some 20 km west of Tal Abyad, is
completely deserted because of the explosive devices which
litter its streets, wells and fields. Darwish, a farmer from
Sarzouri, says: “The village is composed of two parts, one
close to the road and the other between 500 m and 1 km from
here. The part of the village close to the road, where the school
and the health centre are, is completely deserted. You can find
explosive devices everywhere: in hen coops, in wells, in the
fields, as well as in IS trenches that have not been removed.
Around 15 houses are still booby-trapped. To visit a health post
or go to school, we have to go to other villages.”
Darwish’s brother, Sardar, is among those who cannot return
to their homes. He says: “I had to leave the village and move
to Ras Al Ayn because of the presence of mines. Most of the
village’s population is now living in Jazeera canton, in Kobane
or in Tal Abyad.”
According to a former employee of a mine action agency, “the
only people left in these highly contaminated villages are those
who cannot afford to relocate to other places.”24
24 Interviewed by MSF on 22 October 2016
In Bendir Khan, a village 35 km west of Tal Abyad, five people
were killed when their houses exploded because of booby
traps. Ibrahim, a teacher and farmer from the village, says the
latest incident took place in April 2016: “Muhammad went
back to his home near the hill in the village, and he triggered
an explosion by opening the door. The inhabitants of the village
cannot come back because of this problem and many fields My father’s house was
cannot be sown.” destroyed by explosives
In Tiri, a village 20 km further west, Mustafa lives alone in his devices, and now it’s too
house while his family stays on in Turkey. He says: “My family
is in Turkey and I do not want them to come back because I am
dangerous to rebuild
afraid of exposing them to the risk of mines. The village school, the house with so many
for example, is completely surrounded by mines. There is only mines in the ground.
one road to reach it that is considered safe, but the children
have to walk just a few metres from explosive devices. We know
where some mines are, but we do not know how to remove
them.”25

Even in areas thought to be safe, incidents continue to be

reported. Serbest, from Jomali, was brought to Kobane
hospital on 23 October 2016. His father describes what
happened: “The incident happened on a road that we have been
using for more than a year – it was considered safe. Serbest was
ploughing the field with a tractor and, while doing a U-turn
on the road, a mine exploded. It was a big one; it completely
destroyed the tractor – some pieces were found 200 m away. We
came directly to Kobane hospital by car.”26

Serbest underwent surgery to his abdomen to remove pieces

of shrapnel. He also has a fractured arm and various wounds
to his legs and back.

25 Interviewed by MSF on 16 November 2016

26 Interviewed by MSF on 24 October 2016

28 Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria
 © Jamal Bali / MSF

Families living in
buildings destroyed by
the conflict, Kobane,
January 23, 2017.

Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria 29
 We were hosting some
displaced people, and
one time we found their
children playing with an
object that we discovered
was an explosive device.

30 Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria
 Children at the
playground created
by MSF, Kobane,
January 25, 2017.

© Jamal Bali / MSF

Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria 31
LASTING IMPACT
AFTER THE FIGHTING

6
Since 2015 intensive battles have taken When the fighting leaves an area, the unexploded ordnances,
mines and booby traps left behind, present a constant threat
place in Northern Syria followed by the to the returning civilians. Abu Mohammad, a farmer from
withdrawal of IS from several areas. Ayn Al Wardah, a village west of the city of Raqqa, explains
Each time the armed group withdraws to MSF that “IS forces started planting mines ten days before
the frontline reached their location”. He then describes what
from territory it previously held, large
happened when they returned to their village: “When the
numbers of mines and booby traps, are clashes approached our village, we decided to head westwards
found, leaving a deadly legacy for people to a safer area. Later the same day, the SDF told us we could
returning to their homes. go back to our village, and by sunset we were there. They
recommended that we stay in one safe house while they cleared
the village of mines. The next morning, 2 January 2017, we sent
The intensive use of explosive weapons by parties to the
our son Mohammed to buy cigarettes. While he was walking
conflict on the ground and from the air adds to the dangers
down the street he stepped on a mine. As IS planted the mines,
for the returning population. Civilians injured or killed by
we memorised the locations, but we must have missed some of
explosives have been reported in the rural areas north and
them.”28 Eleven-year-old Mohammed was brought to Kobane
west of the city of Raqqa as well as between Manbij and
hospital for treatment for his injuries.
Al Bab. Some incidents occur as people try to flee from the
fighting; others when they go back to their villages after the People fleeing eastwards from the areas between Al Bab and
frontline has moved further away. Manbij report similar situations, with roads, fields and whole
villages planted with mines and booby traps.
Um Turki came to Kobane hospital with two of her children,
aged four and ten, after both were injured by a mine on
25 November 2016 as they fled clashes in the northern
countryside of Raqqa governorate: “Our village was between
the two parties’ frontlines, IS and the SDF. IS expelled us from
the village. They came and told us to move towards Raqqa but
we decided to flee towards SDF-controlled areas. [As we left]
we saw IS planting mines in our village and on the route to
SDF areas, to prevent us from going there. We were driving in
a convoy of three cars. There were three families in our vehicle
and we were in between the two other cars. The first car passed
the mine without any harm. My husband also avoided the
mine, but then drove over another one which we hadn’t seen.
Five people were injured and a child died.”27

27 Interviewed by MSF on 30 November 2016

28 Interviewed by MSF on 4 January 2017

Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria 33
Marouf is from a village 20 km north east of Al Bab, which
until recently was under IS control. He decided to go back
to his village when the frontline moved further west. His
brother recounts what happened: “On 20 November 2016,
Marouf drove over a mine on his motorcycle inside the village.
IS have planted mines everywhere.” Marouf was taken to Amal
hospital in Ayn Al Arab/Kobane and then to a private hospital
in Qamishli. Unable to afford further private treatment, after
undergoing surgery he was brought to Kobane hospital for
post-operative care.
These personal accounts are just some examples of a scenario
that has been witnessed repeatedly in the Ayn Al Arab/
Kobane and Manbij areas. Civilian casualties as a result of
explosive devices seem destined to increase dramatically with
the offensives against IS approaching urban centres such as Al
Bab and Raqqa.
29 M
 APUTO +15, Declaration of the States Parties to the Convention
on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of
Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, 27 June 2014
34 Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria
The aim, identified in 2014, of all states which are party to
the Mines Ban Treaty to meet its goals “to the fullest extent
possible by 2025”,29 3 including “no new mine victims”,
is looking increasingly unlikely to be met in syria. The
widespread use of victim-operated devices deliberately
targeting the civilian population contravenes the Geneva
Conventions binding on all state and non-state warring
parties. The failure of states party to the Mines Ban Treaty
and to the Protocol on Explosive Remnants of War to meet
their obligations to facilitate the clearance of unexploded
ordinances only exacerbates civilian suffering and the deadly
impact of this war tactic. Without proper support to the
humanitarian clearance of mines, booby traps and explosive
remnants of war, and with poor humanitarian access to
the affected areas, people displaced from their homes will
be unable to return safely, and the dangers posed by such
explosives will continue to affect their livelihoods and safety
for a long time to come.
Set to Explode: Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern Syria 35
www.msf.org